Nayyar Adnan
During last two decades, theft of over 200 kilograms of nuclear material in India poses serious threats of nuclear terrorism, necessitating the global powers’ role to raise safety standards in the country. The countries in the region including China and Pakistan have repeatedly called for strengthening regulations following repeated incidents of theft of nuclear material in India. Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson said, “Nuclear terrorism is the security challenge faced by international community. All governments have the responsibilities to strengthen regulation of nuclear materials to combat on nuclear trafficking to ensure the nuclear safety and security”.
Recently, two Indians belonging to Bihar have been kept by Nepal Police for selling Uranium like material in black market for Rs 350 million per kg. As per police these two were among eight people arrested in Kathmandu for possessing uranium-like substances, which were brought from India to be sold illegally in Nepal. Based on a tip-off, a team of police officers arrested them and recovered these substances from a car parked in the parking lot of a five-star hotel in Boudha, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. The two Indians were identified as Upendra Kumar Mishra and Raju Thakur, both natives of Bihar, while the six others were all Nepal nationals. In March, 2021, four Nepalese nationals were arrested here for possessing 2.5 kilogrammes of unprocessed uranium. One of the arrested claimed that her father-in-law brought it from India where he worked in a uranium mine some 20 years ago, police said.
According a timeline issued by The South Asia Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI), 18 nuclear material’s theft and lost incidents were reported in India from 1994 to 2021 involving over 200kg nuclear material. Indian authorities recovered 2.5kg Uranium in 1994; 111kg in 1998; 59.1kg in 2000; 200 grams in 2001; 225 grams in 2003; 4kg in 2008; 5kg in 2009; 9kg in 2016; 1kg in 2018 and 13.75kg in 2021 in multiple incidents.
Given its history, India is one of the most vulnerable states in the world with respect to nuclear safety and security. As a state with dozens of local insurgencies and movements, it is a matter of time when a non-state actor succeeds in acquiring sufficient fissile material that can be useful in harming others. The possibility of unreported nuclear theft is extremely high. If organized groups are working to steal nuclear material from state facilities that means that some are caught and those in India who are not caught may have successfully traded illegal radioactive material. Capturing of such a material in Nepal and involvement of Indian nationals is one such glaring example. It is a threat, urging all stake holders to force India diplomatically to keep its house in order before it resulted in a catastrophic incident to the whole region.
The cases of nuclear theft in India may be owing to the poor nuclear security culture that exists in its nuclear facilities. Unauthorized persons seem to have relatively easy access to India’s nuclear facilities. The main source of theft is suspected to be from Jaduguda uranium mine in Jharkhand to which nuclear theft is traced back. Jharkhand is also one of the states in which the Naxalite–Maoist insurgents active and frequently commit attacks against the Indian military and police forces. Secondly, many nuclear reactors in India use imported fissile material. A report published in Indian Express pointed out that many Indian nuclear research laboratories from which the nuclear materials were stolen are guilty of negligence.
The nuclear theft in Indian nuclear facilities may be a security hazard for not just the state of India but for the region. The establishment of a nuclear safety and security system is a national responsibility for a state, and India has demonstrated no inclination to fulfill this obligation. UNSC Resolution 1540 and IAEA Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) made it binding on states to ensure stringent measures to prevent nuclear material from falling into wrong hands. However, increasing cases of nuclear-related incidents have indeed jeopardized India’s aspirations to become de-jure member of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). With such incidents, India’s position has been put in an awkward position with international pressure mounting over India’s poor safety standards.
Pakistan has outperformed other countries like India, Israel, Iran, and North Korea in its nuclear safety and security structure. It has independent regulatory authority and robust domestic nuclear material security legislation in place. Pakistan has always called for thorough investigation of nuclear related incidents and measures for strengthening the security of nuclear materials to prevent their diversion. Such incidents are a matter of deep concern as they point to lax control, poor regulatory and enforcement mechanism, as well as possible existence of a black market for nuclear materials inside India. India has consistently violated UNSC Resolutions and has failed to uphold IAEA’s conventions regarding the physical protection of nuclear material. A leading US non-proliferation watchdog, Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) nuclear security index gave India the lowest ranking for its poor safety and security of nuclear material.
